Free Web NovelChapter 512: Chapter 424: Masterful Sword Technique, Crystal Fish and Flower Blossoms
"What are we making here, fried fish sticks?"
"Do you want to eat fried fish sticks?"
"Uh, not really, just wondering, unless the fried fish is something else. Could it be squirrel fish?"
"Yeah, it’s squirrel fish."
"???"
Lucas widened his eyes, pointing at the large blackfish.
"Who in their right mind uses blackfish to make squirrel fish!"
"That’s why I only asked for one, to try it first. If it doesn’t work, we’ll switch to codfish, codfish will definitely do."
John nodded with a smile, as if he could understand, which he didn’t.
"So, what exactly is being made?"
Although he couldn’t understand, judging by the setup, it definitely involved frying. Absolutely delicious!
Lucas pulled out his phone and showed him a photo of squirrel fish.
"Is this fish???"
John’s mouth formed an ’o’, looking at the pitch-black fish in the bag, unable to relate it to the art-like dish in the photo.
"Did you think Great Xia cuisine only differed from Western cuisine in terms of cooking methods and flavors?"
"Ha, then you’re sorely mistaken!"
Lucas proudly raised his chin: "The two core aspects of Great Xia cuisine are fire and Knife Technique, which means controlling the flame in cooking and mastering the knife skills in food preparation."
"There’s a specific discipline in Chinese cuisine called carving, yes, you heard right, carving. Chinese chefs specialize in carving food into various forms, especially plants and animals."
"So, how is the carved food cooked?"
"It’s not cooked, it’s used for plating."
"?????"
John was puzzled, "Carving is such detailed work and takes a lot of time, just for plating?"
"Yes, but not always disposable. Some durable ones can be cleaned and reused because Great Xia’s plated items are usually not consumed by diners, they’re purely for aesthetics."
Saying this, Lucas showed him more pictures of plated dishes.
"You mean that green stuff around the plate?"
John zoomed in on the photo with two fingers, examining it for a while, skeptically asking.
"What’s this, can’t be cucumber, right?"
"Yes," Lucas smiled and nodded, "It’s cucumber. Look at this photo."
With a swipe of his finger, he switched to another photo.
The dish in this photo looked much more exquisite; fish slices cut extremely thin were arranged in the shape of a phoenix, with cherry tomatoes carved into blooming roses beside it.
Scroll down.
Carrot lanterns, cucumber dragons, white radish beauties, winter melon small bowls, watermelon skin decorations, apple rabbits...
A wide variety of vegetables and fruits were carved into exquisite art pieces, leaving John more and more astonished, his face full of shock.
While the two were engrossed in admiring the photos, Lin Chen had already tossed the blackfish into the sink.
The hefty blackfish was quiet inside the bag, but once thrown into the sink, it seemed to regain its senses and started violently thrashing around, its powerful tail slapping loudly against the sink walls.
Lin Chen wasn’t in a hurry to act, quietly standing by the sink watching the blackfish’s uproar.
Just then, several pretty female waitresses streamed in from outside, walking directly towards Lin Chen.
Hearing the noise from the sink, each of them craned their necks to gaze over there, faces filled with curiosity.
Not only them, but even Jonathan and two chefs suddenly appeared from a corner, looking as if they wanted to study seriously.
"Blackfish?"
Seeing the hefty fish in the sink, Marchello and Nagishiro Sho showed interest, clearly aware of its harmful nature here.
If one could turn it into a delicious dish, it could help alleviate some ecological issues and lower costs to create significant income.
After all, no one eats blackfish, no restaurant prepares it, no competition means no pricing, the cost can be lowered however much you want, maybe even wholesalers would thank you for handling what they consider trash.
As everyone watched attentively, Lin Chen calmly picked up a kitchen knife, clutching it in reverse so the spine faced down.
The blackfish splashed around in the sink for a while before slowly quieting down, perhaps tired, only twitching occasionally, leaving just its mouth gaping open and closed.
Blackfish are different from most fish species; they possess incredibly strong vitality and are omnivorous, consuming not only everything in the water but sometimes even jumping ashore to munch on vegetation.
The phrase "not a blade of grass grows" alludes to creatures like blackfish.
Even after being out of water for half an hour, it was still so energetic.
Lin Chen quickly pressed it down with his left hand, fingers spread wide, firmly gripping the body of the black fish, while his right hand raised the back of the knife high and brought it down forcefully just as the black fish began to struggle.
"Smack!"
The violent scene caused a few women to quickly close their eyes tightly, but Dais and Elsa remained calm, even leaning in for a closer look at the black fish’s condition.
Compared to killing poultry, dispatching a fish was nothing at all.
A noticeable dent appeared on the black fish’s head, its tail still slightly twitching, and a steady stream of bright red blood slowly flowed from its mouth.
"You’re supposed to use something like a stick to hit it, that way it gets stunned more thoroughly, like being anesthetized."
Lin Chen casually explained while flipping the knife around and aiming the sharp tip at the base of the fish’s head, cutting in with a ’crunch’.
This was the fish’s brain, its central nervous system, similar to cutting lobsters or crabs; one cut assured instant painless death.
The West upholds animal protection principles, even slaughterhouses are subject to constraints, employing methods to ensure animals’ painless deaths whenever possible.
If it were a larger organism it would be more troublesome, but aquatic creatures like this are relatively simple. Everyone present was an experienced chef or staff, no one would say anything.
Only Su and Nicole were witnessing an animal being slaughtered for the first time, their faces pale as a sheet.
Especially when they saw Lin Chen swiftly scrape off the fish scales with the back of the knife, then open up the black fish, removing its bloody entrails, they hurriedly covered their mouths, gagging uncontrollably.
Lin Chen glanced at the two, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, hands still moving swiftly, cleaning and carving two complete fish fillets.
With two fingers, he slowly slid from the fish tail upwards, feeling for the position of the fish bones, while tweezers in his right hand precisely pulled them out one by one.
Marchello and Nagishiro Sho watched silently, faces expressionless, as if witnessing something commonplace.
Not even when Lin Chen was cleaning out the organs did their brows furrow.
Once all the fish bones were meticulously removed, Lin Chen’s actions suddenly became peculiar.
According to Western culinary procedures, this is the moment to either segment the fish meat or to remove the fish skin.
However, Lin Chen held the entire fish fillet, placing it tail facing himself, left hand gently pressing on the surface of the meat, right hand with knife vertically downwards, slicing in.
Initially expected to carve off a piece of fish, yet just as the blade was about to reach the bottom, Lin Chen swiftly withdrew the knife, shifting slightly to the right, repeating the previous steps.
One cut, two cuts, three cuts...
His actions grew increasingly rapid, and within ten seconds the whole fish fillet was sliced, but to the naked eye it seemed untouched, with no visible cut marks.
"?"
Marchello immediately became intrigued.
He knew Lin Chen wouldn’t waste effort, there must be a reason for such slicing.
Not rushing to speak, he patiently waited to see what Lin Chen’s next step would be.
Lin Chen turned the fish fillet ninety degrees horizontally, left hand still pressing lightly on the fish meat, while the right hand held the blade at a clear angle downwards, slicing into the fish meat at a thirty-degree angle.
Again, not cutting through, but as he withdrew the knife, he gently flicked the fish meat to the left.
Instantly.
Layer upon layer of shimmering strips of fish meat scattered on the chopping board, the fish skin acting like a ribbon, gathering all the strips together, preventing them from scattering loose.
Once entirely cut, the originally whole fish fillet disappeared, replaced by rows of ear-like fish fillets.
Lin Chen pinched the fish tail, lifting it to let all the fish strands fall freely through the air, checking for any uncut areas or irregular fillet sizes.
After scanning it over, ensuring no issues, he submerged the fish meat into a prepared bowl of cold water, shaking it lightly to let all the fish strands fully spread out.
The fish strips soaking in cold water looked like clusters of blooming crystal chrysanthemums, their color white and translucent, gleaming like jade.
No one had ever seen fish cut in this way, and everyone rushed over to take a closer look at this masterpiece-like fish meat formation.
Marchello was the first to secure the best spot, carefully lifting the fish tail back into the air to closely inspect each slice method with Nagishiro Sho.
"So this is how it’s done, didn’t expect that altering the slicing angle can make the ingredients take on a completely different shape."
This discovery even sparked greater inspiration than observing Lin Chen’s cooking process.
Innovation isn’t only about taste; presentation can be a canvas for creativity as well.
Even if the taste remains unchanged, creating variations in presentation can equally enthrall diners.
Though Lin Chen hadn’t begun the next steps, with their seasoned judgment, both could completely visualize how the fish fillet would look post-coating and deep-frying.
The step of soaking in cold water was also easily understood; a means to keep the fish strands distinct, preventing them from sticking together, all while preserving their soft tender texture through low temperatures.
While everyone crowded around the fish fillet bouquet, Lin Chen had already finished preparing the other fish filet.
This time, he didn’t directly plunge it into the water, instead slicing it into palm-sized pieces, just the right size for a plate.
After segmenting, once soaked in water, the fish piece formations transformed once more.
